DEFENDING DEMOCRACY IN EXILE Policy Responses to Transnational Repression US action on transnational repression O ver the last several years, the US government has taken concrete steps to counter malign acts by foreign governments through new security measures and foreign policy tools. The Justice Department, its FBI, and the Departments of Homeland Security and State have been key actors in the response, which includes efforts to track incidents, publicize information about tactics, and issue indictments. Despite this strong action, gaps remain. Specifically, the United States lacks laws tailored to combat transnational repression, and the immigration system is ill-equipped to provide protection for vulnerable individuals. Foreign policy tools such as sanctions and visa bans can be further refined and strengthened in order to significantly raise the cost of transnational repression for perpetrators. The United States lacks laws tailored to combat transnational repression, and the immigration system is ill-equipped to provide protection for vulnerable individuals. Rising awareness A lack of awareness is a key obstacle for governments in responding to transnational repression. Without a comprehensive understanding of how, why, and how often autocrats target individuals inside a particular country, attacks against foreign dissidents tend to be treated as ordinary crimes by law enforcement. Patterns of incidents can be overlooked if data is not systematically collected, making changes to policy and practice unlikely. And targeted diasporas can remain disconnected from resources available to them that can offer protection or recourse. In the United States, awareness of transnational repression is rapidly growing among federal law enforcement, as are efforts to track the phenomenon and engage with diasporas. The FBI, which is responsible for domestic intelligence, has instituted processes to categorize records of crimes reported to its 6 @FreedomHouse National Threat Operations Center that fit known tactics of authoritarian targeting, such as harassment, assault, threats, and stalking, as incidents of transnational repression. In order to make this process possible, the FBI has adopted a definition of transnational repression and created new training for staff that will help call takers identify incidents. The training will eventually extend to local law enforcement. Though still in the early stages of deployment, this effort to compile information on the experiences of those targeted by foreign states will help inform other measures to protect victims and hold perpetrators accountable. These internal changes have been accompanied by efforts to engage with the public. In March 2022, the FBI launched a website explaining what transnational repression is, providing examples of the forms it can take as well as information on how to report incidents.22 Since August 2021, the FBI has also published two unclassified counterintelligence bulletins about the threat of transnational repression. The first was specifically designed to inform the Uyghur community of the fact that Chinese government officials “target US-based Uyghurs through in-person and digital means to silence dissent, issue instructions, collect information, and compel compliance.” 23 The second bulletin highlighted how governments of other countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Rwanda, engage in transnational repression in the United States.24 Outreach to vulnerable communities is a good way of building resilience against transnational repression. However, the FBI faces serious obstacles in encouraging reporting, especially by communities made up of noncitizens, people of color, and those who may have suffered repression at the hands of security agencies and police in other countries. These communities may lack trust in the FBI for well-founded reasons. Concerns have been raised for years by civil liberties groups about surveillance programs, including social media monitoring, run by federal and local law enforcement agencies in the United States that allegedly focus on visa applicants, as well as members of religious, racial, and ethnic minorities.25 Recent reports of the FBI acquiring and testing software made by the NSO Group, which has been implicated widely in the surveillance and hacking of activists and journalists by authoritarian countries, are likely to underscore these concerns.26 #TransnationalRepression